Mistakes

My father always said that there were only two ways to learn: cheap mistakes and expensive mistakes.

He said that mistakes are the tuition that our children pay for becoming adults. There is no scholarhip available for this degree. They will eventually have to pay the price to earn the title.

Each time we step in to save them from the consequences of an errant action, we only postpone the time of reckoning.

There is no way to short change this process.

If they don't make the mistake and learn from it at 14,15 or 16 then they will make it at 24, 34 or 44 when the cost is much greater.

Allowing our children the room to fail is allowing them the room to learn and grow.

Interestingly enough, the same is true for our own lives.

So many of us order our lives so as to avoid error at all costs that we stifle the creativity and spontanaiety that could be the engine for growth in our adult lives.